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Each year, traumatic brain injuries (TBI) contribute to a substantial number of deaths and cases of permanent disability. Understanding the data around brain injuries is critical to understanding the impact of this invisible public health crisis.

Looking for numbers and hard facts? Here are U.S. statistics on TBI.

Since the day of the accident, my heart gravitates between the two worlds of indescribable grief from earthly separation from Aaron and being thrust into navigating the ever-changing turbulent waters of brain injury. No parent ever expects this kind of catastrophic news...

I found something special—a letter I’d hand written to myself marked: To be opened six months later. I don’t have any memory of writing the letter, but when I read it all these years later, I was pretty impressed with what I had to say.  Especially since I remember that when my rehab staff recommended journaling after my TBI, my entries were really depressing...

In 1989, on my way home from work, a semi-truck hit me. I suffered a severe brain injury and spent eight days in a coma. I spent the next ten years focusing on myself and becoming the best I could be with what I had left.

There are a variety of immediate effects on the brain, including various types of bleeding and tearing forces that injure nerve fibers and cause inflammation, metabolic changes, and brain swelling.

I found out the hard way that when faced with trauma of this magnitude, your body has many protective layers; and as the layers are slowly peeled back, you find out exactly what resiliency is.

As a caregiver, wife, and mother, I have found great solace in sharing my story. I have also learned a great deal from reading first-hand experiences of people who have survived a TBI. I recently read two new books about brain injury that I'd like to share. Both stories add new insight into the way we experience traumatic brain injury in our own lives.